throw some suggestions at me:)

D!ve^Bomb!

ok heres the deal, i originaly was gonna get a car for around 14k(including price of my car)..

my loan has just been approved but i have decided i don't wanna get into that much debt at the moment, so i've decided to put some of it into savings account for a rainy day:)

so i need some suggestions on a car at around the 8/9k mark or less if possible.. i don't care what u suggest, suggest anything, i have no preference as yet..

also what kinda mileage would ya consider *too* much when buying a car??

Thanks guys/gals

seamus

newband wrote:

ok heres the deal, i originaly was gonna get a car for around 14k(including price of my car)..

my loan has just been approved but i have decided i don't wanna get into that much debt at the moment, so i've decided to put some of it into savings account for a rainy day:)

so i need some suggestions on a car at around the 8/9k mark or less if possible.. i don't care what u suggest, suggest anything, i have no preference as yet..

also what kinda mileage would ya consider *too* much when buying a car??

Thanks guys/gals

I can't recommend a car, but around 10k miles on a car, per year, is about average.

What is "too much" depends on the age of the car. A two year old car with 40k miles on her may be fine, but a 10 year old car with 200,000 miles on her may be pushing it, even though it's the same mileage per year. On the same note, if that two year old car has been driven into the ground, and never been serviced, and that ten year old car has been serviced every 3 months, and had an engine rebuild in the last 3 years, the ten year old car could be the better buy.

Better to limit yourself. e.g If the car has 15k miles per year I'll consider it, otherwise I'll ignore.

Beware of older cars with what may seem like unbelieveably good mileage - they've probably been clocked. It's a common practice in this country, and a lot of people seem to think it's OK.
My Dad had a look at a car in a garage years ago, 12 years old with 80k miles on her. Wow, he thought, a bargain. But a mate who went with him told him not to put any money down. They took the reg, got a Garda mate to find out the previous owner and my Dad gave her a ring. She said the car had 150,000 miles on her when she sold it to the garage. Big difference.

Merrion

The cost of borrowing exceeds the return on savings accounts (which is how banks make money) therefore if you only want to spend 8k on a car only borrow 8k.

mike65

First on the money, as Merrion says banks make thiers by charging less on interest to the saver than to the borrower so it makes no sense "to borrow to save" As for the car - hey get a mirca!

Mike.

FX Meister

Get a golf or a slightly older A3. An Astra maybe too?

sharkman

I agree with Mike65 and Merrion , Borrowing to save does not make sense. Only take out a loan for the amount you need and , If at a later date you require more funds request a top up loan . Once you have made all payments the bank should have no problem ...


Shure they are giving money away these days !

Canis Lupus

i recently bought a 1.6 focus saloon (although i wanted the hatchback) love the car to bits. previously had a carina 1.6.

Differences: carina was easier on the petrol by a bit but:

The Focus STICKS to the road.. great handling and really responsive as well, looks good, is way comfy and is fast as well... but put the boot down in it and it does tend to drink the petrol but i can forgive it that fault (even with high petrol prices) only thing ive ever hated about focus's is the inbuilt radio/cd player which just looks lik it was built for kiddies with the BIG bubbly numbers etc havent had the focus long enough to know how reliable it is but nothing has gone wrong with it so far touch wood.

D!ve^Bomb!

can you not get a cd player fitted?? i couldn't afford 1.6, i've seen a '99 1.4 for 8k which seems pretty good to me,, hows does that sound?

Mayshine

If you are going for the focus, stick to the 1.6 if possible, the 1.4 is pretty gutless IMO.

CD Player is no problem but you will need a converter for a double DIN to single DIN slot. They are normally cheap if you pick it up on the web

Dave